Your Right to Know

Conditions at the privately owned and operated Lake Erie Correctional Institution are “
unacceptable” and “won’t be allowed to continue,” a state prison official said yesterday after the
release of a critical audit.

An internal audit by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction found that the prison
in Conneaut, Ohio, in Ashtabula County, met only two-thirds of state operating standards for
prisons. It houses about 1,500 inmates.

In addition to numerous health, sanitation and security problems, staff members and inmates at
the private prison told auditors they had “safety concerns” and do not feel secure.

The state sold the Conneaut prison last year to Corrections Corp. of America of Nashville,
Tenn., for $72.7 million. The state pays CCA $44.25 per inmate per day to house, feed and clothe
them and provide programs, plus a $3.8 million annual fee for maintenance. The company is obligated
to run the prison at a savings of $3 million per year compared with state operation.

Among myriad issues cited in the audit: non-operating or obstructed fire doors; sanitation
problems in the kitchen; shift-change log books not kept up to date; improper storage of “pepper
ball” guns; lack of inmate jumpsuits, blankets and sheets; segregation-cell blankets used as
dividers, and posters and magazine photos on the walls; and overall problems with general
cleanliness. The audit cited staff members having problems with keys, contraband from inmates kept
in officers’ desks, no formal schedule for laundry, clogged water fountains, and no logs of phone
calls made by inmates in segregation.

An auditor observed a urine specimen in a cup on an officer’s desk. The officer said it was
there when he arrived.

State prisons spokeswoman JoEllen Smith said the audit findings are “unacceptable, and CCA knows
how strongly Ohio thinks that. It’s not unusual for management change to create issues that need
refinement, but these results go beyond that and won’t be allowed to continue.”

She said the state has put in place an improvement plan and expects to see results.

Steve Owen, spokesman for Corrections Corp. of America, said in a statement: “We have built our
30-year reputation on not just meeting but exceeding the expectations of our government partners,
and we take it very seriously when we do not meet those expectations. ... CCA is taking concrete
corrective steps to ensure that this facility meets not only the ODRC’s goals but our own high
expectations for our facilities.”

Chris Mabe, head of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, said the audit confirms the
union’s concerns about private-prison operations. The prison is not unionized.

“There’s things they can’t do cost-effectively and they can’t do safely,” Mabe said. “When you
incarcerate people to make money, it’s no-win at the end of the day.”